Cisco Network Consulting

The Catalyst family of modular and fixed managed switches offers performance and intelligence at the access, aggregation, and core areas of converged voice, video, and high bandwidth data networks for organizations that range from small businesses and branch offices to global enterprises and SPs. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE consultants can provide online and on-premises support for Catalyst family switches to help you to design an efficient infrastructure that meets your specific business requirements, configure proof-of-concept testing, deploy Catalyst switches, establish and verify a sound security and compliance strategy, streamline network management and performance tracking, provide repair and maintenance services, optimize switch capacity, and configure Catalyst's fault-tolerant technology for non-stop operation.

Progent can assist you to manage and repair your legacy Catalyst switches or migrate seamlessly to up-to-date versions of Catalyst switches following leading practices to make sure that you receive the highest return from your investment in your IT infrastructure.

The need for smart, fast switching is driven by a confluence of relatively new computing trends whose overall impact is a cyber tsunami of traffic:

• Cloud and Internet of Things computing and a consequent need for massive network virtualization
• The pervasiveness of always-connected mobile devices
• Data guzzling rich media apps
• Social media for business
• The popularity of Big Data in enterprise data analytics
• Increasingly sophisticated threats like ransomware

Cisco's latest lineup of Catalyst switches are best suited for the distribution/core layers of campus deployments where mobile and stationary workers must be supported with unvarying high throughput, strict client access management, tight group isolation, application awareness, and wired/wireless convergence. Catalyst switches are designed to meet the demand for performance and control with features such as high-density 10, 40, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet services, switching capacity over 25T per appliance, a comprehensive suite of tools including Easy Virtual Network (EVN) to facilitate the deployment of virtual networks, Virtual Switching System technology for switch failover with instant backup switch recovery and 99.999% availability, IPv4 and IPv6 support, Application Visibility and Control (AVC) to optimize system resource usage, and advanced Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities for business-critical data control.

Cisco Catalyst switches allow businesses of all sizes to build intelligent switching and routing services into their network architecture, creating an environment that can meet current needs, scale to accommodate future capacity demands, protect vital data, and differentiate and control tasks to optimize network productivity.

Catalyst 1000 Series Fixed Ethernet Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 1000 Series Layer 2 network access switches are small form factor, fixed switches intended for small businesses and branches with up to 250 users and with little if any in-house IT support. The Catalyst 1000 family includes fanless models for quiet operation outside a wiring closet in an office venue. Mounting kits include desktop, wall mount, rack mount, and DIN rail mount. Created as a simple replacement for Catalyst 2960-L/2960-Plus Series deployments, the Catalyst 1000 family includes versions with 8 to 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 24 to 48 Fast Ethernet 10/100M ports.

Catalyst Series 1000 configuration and administration are simple using a web interface or CLI, security is enterprise-grade, and PoE+ capability with an automatically distributed budget of 740W allows a broad variety of Internet of Things (IoT) implementations. Up to eight Catalyst 1000 Gbit Ethernet Series switches can be managed together with single IP. All Catalyst Series 1000 appliances are nonblocking line-rate devices, and all are based on Cisco's familiar IOS Software. Quality-of-Service (QoS) capabilities include egress queues for each port as well as priority packet queuing to deliver optimized throughput for time-critical data. Catalyst Series 1000 switches also support Shaped Round Robin service scheduling and Weighted Tail Drop (WTD) congestion avoidance.

Catalyst 9000 Series Fixed and Modular Managed Switches
The Catalyst 9000 family of managed switches includes modular and fixed appliances and supports all deployment models including access, aggregation, and core switching. The Catalyst 9000 series offers devices with the right value proposition to connect people and things in venues ranging from small businesses and branch offices to global enterprises. Catalyst 9000 switches can be configured to support any combination of local facilities, private and public clouds, and hybrid networks. Modern management tools and advanced cybersecurity features reduce cost of ownership by streamlining operations and protecting vital network assets. Cisco's 9000X line of switches provide converged switching/routing, introducing the first mix of 400G QSFP-DD ports plus full mGig Ethernet and PoE ports.

With double the backplane stacking bandwidth for around half the price of the legacy Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR switches they are intended to replace, Catalyst 9200 Series switches are a compelling network update for small branch offices and midsize campus environments. The 9200 family includes switches that support 24 or 48 ports with full Power over Ethernet; 80-160 Gbps stacking bandwidth; streaming telemetry; and Layer 3 capabilities that include OSPF Interior Gateway Protocol, EIGRP, IS-IS link-state protocol, and routed access. Catalyst 9200 switches are powered by the Cisco IOS XE operating system.

The Catalyst 9200 offers 160-Gbps stacking bandwidth, supports field-replaceable redundant power supplies and fans, and accepts add-in interface modules with 4x1G, 4x1/10G, 2x25G, or 2x40G uplink. The Catalyst 9200 Enhanced VN switch allows as many as 32 Virtual Networks and offers 160-Gbps backplane stacking bandwidth. The Catalyst 9200L offers 80-Gbps backplane stacking bandwidth. The Catalyst 9200L multigigabit and the Catalyst 9200 multigigabit offer wireless bandwidth optimization with 8 or 12 multigigabit Ethernet ports up to 10Gbps.

Cisco's Catalyst 9300 Series switches are fixed, stackable units for high-density enterprise access switching. Key features available with models in the Catalyst 9300 product line include up to 1Tbps stacking throughput, stackable SFP fiber, up to 448 multigigabit ports including 288 ports of 90W UPOE+ with an 8-unit stack, line rate IPsec tunnel with AES-256 with MACsec 256-bit encryption and speeds as high as 100G, HA fans and power supplies, plus data stack and StackPower cables compatible throughout the complete Catalyst 9300 family.

Powered by the Cisco IOS XE operating system, devices in the Catalyst 9300 product line support auto device provisioning, API-driven configuration, high-granularity visibility for near realtime monitoring, and seamless software updates. Advanced security features include Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) along with AES-256 MACsec and IPSec encryption, and Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies with Image signing. Cloud cybersecurity is enhanced because Catalyst 9300 Series switches can host Cisco's Umbrella agent directly. This makes it possible for businesses to customize their DNS filtering policies at a granular user or group level to block BYOD or IoT clients from accessing dangerous websites.

The entry-level Cisco Catalyst 9300L switch features up to 320G backplane stacking bandwidth and offers 12 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10G ports and 36 10M/100M/1G ports. The 9300L uses fixed rather than modular uplink hardware for 4 1G, 4 10G, or 2 40G uplink ports. The Cisco Catalyst 9300 appliance features 480G of stacking performance and supports 48 100M/1G/2.5G/5Gbps Ethernet ports, 24 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10Gbps ports, or 48 1G SFP ports. Modular uplink speeds available are 1G, 10G, 25G, or 40G. The top-of-the-line Cisco Catalyst 9300X switch provides 1T stacking bandwidth and supports 48 10G Ethernet ports. The 9300X supports modular uplinks with dual-rate 100G/40G, multirate 25G/10G/1G, or mGig. Cisco 90W Universal Power Over Ethernet+ supports IoT-intensive applications. Hardware is available to support 100G IPsec.

Cisco's Catalyst 9400 Series appliances are modular switches powered by the Cisco IOS XE operating system and designed for midsize and enterprise campus access networks. Delivering double the throughput and more than four times the chassis bandwidth as the Catalyst 6500 line it is designed to replace, the Catalyst 9400 family brings switch capability into the modern era of networking impelled by cybersecurity, mobility, Internet of Things, and cloud.

Catalyst 9400 appliances are offered with 4-slot, 7-slot, and 10-slot chassis. Two slots on the chassis are dedicated to high-availability supervisor cards, making 2, 5, or 8 slots open for line cards. Maximum bandwidth scalability for each line-card slot is 480 Gbps. Switching capacity can achieve 1.44 Terabits per second and forwarding performance on Supervisor Module is as high as 9 Tbps for the 10-slot chassis. All Catalyst 9400 models offer 90W UPOE+ on every access port, secure network segmentation with SD-Access and N+N/N+1 power redundancy for high availability. Cisco's Catalyst 9400 4-slot switch supports 96 10/100/1000 ports, 5G/10G mGig ports, or 10G SFP+ ports. The Catalyst 9400 7-slot switch supports 240 ports, and the Catalyst 9400 10-slot supports 384 ports. All Catalyst 9400 switches can support 2 non-blocking 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP uplinks and up to 8 non-blocking 10G SFP+ uplinks.

Cisco's Catalyst 9500 product line consists of fixed core and edge services appliances designed for the enterprise campus. Catalyst 9500 models are powered by Cisco IOS XE and the the family incorporates the first infrastructure technology to deliver switching rates above 25 Terabits per second.

Cisco's Catalyst 9500 appliances provide up to 6.4 Terabits per second switching performance with forwarding throughput up to 2 Bpps. Catalyst 9500 switches can provide up to 32 nonblocking 100 Gigabit QSFP28 ports, 32 nonblocking 40 Gigabit QSFP+ ports, 48 nonblocking 25G SFP28 ports, or 48 nonblocking 10G ports. You can configure Multichassis EtherChannel across StackWise-Virtual members to achieve high resiliency.

Catalyst 9500X switches can provide as high as 25.6 Tbps switching performance with 2 Billion Packet per Second forwarding speed. Catalyst 9500X models support up to 28 nonblocking 40/100 Gigabit QSFP28 optical ports or 8 nonblocking 40/100/200/400 Gigabit QSFP-DD ports. The 9500X product line also includes chip-level support for line-rate 256-bit 802.1AE Media Access Control Security (MACsec) and WAN-MACsec1 encryption.

Cisco's Catalyst 9600 Series switches are modular core and distribution appliances for the enterprise campus. The 6-slot 9600 Series chassis using a Catalyst 9600X Series Supervisor delivers switching performance as high as 25.6 Tbps and can support as many as 256 nonblocking 10/25/50 G ports, 96 nonblocking 40/100G G ports, or 8 nonblocking 200/400 Gigabit QSFP-DD ports. The Catalyst 9600 switch also provides dual-rate 40G/100G and 10G/25G optics. Two chassis slots are reserved for redundant supervisors. You can combine a selection of line cards for core and aggregation environments. The chassis has a passive backplane, making it possible to change out fan tray, power supplies, and line cards without disruption.

Legacy Catalyst Models Supported by Progent's Consultants
Progent's Cisco certified consultants have broad experience delivering online and on-premises support expertise for older Catalyst switches which have reached End of Life. These legacy Catalyst switches usually cost more to operate and support than contemporary switches, provide less capacity and functionality, and for some cases may expose organizations to regulatory compliance and liability issues. Progent's consultants are available to help your business to manage and repair these legacy Cisco products and can also assist you to design and implement non-disruptive migrations to newer models from the Catalyst line or to devices from the Cisco Nexus portfolio of network switches which take advantage of Catalyst design experience.

Cisco Catalyst Express 500 Line
Cisco's Catalyst Express 500 and 520 line of fixed-configuration switches are intended for companies with as many as 250 employees and deliver the dependability, protection, expandability, and features small companies require at an affordable cost. PoE capability makes it easy to install network devices such as VoIP phones and closed-circuit TV cameras.

Versions of the Catalyst Express 500 switches support up to 24 10/100/1000BASE-T ports as well as the option of redundant power supplies with automatic switch-over for additional reliability. Integration with Cisco wireless access points allows businesses to build a local wireless environment rapidly and effectively. The Catalyst Express 500 family provides strong security against viruses With the Cisco Self-Defending Network strategy and Clean Access solutions. Cisco Catalyst 2940 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 2900 Series non-modular, managed Ethernet switches offer basic workgroup networking for small to midsize businesses (SMBs). These wire-rate desktop switches deliver IOS Software functions for simple data, video, and voice support at the network edge. The Catalyst 2940 family of managed switches are small, entry-level switches with eight Fast Ethernet connections plus a single built-in Fast or Gigabit Ethernet uplink. The enclosures can be installed away from the wiring closet in space-constrained areas such as on or under a user's desk or in a classroom.

Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switch
The Catalyst 2960-S Series are fixed-configuration switches intended for small businesses and branch offices. Available versions incorporate 24 or 48 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, four 1-Gigabit or two 10-Gigabit uplink connections, and deliver throughput of 176 Gbps. Cisco's FlexStack technology permits as many as four Catalyst 2960-S switches to be combined in a stack to act as a single switch that offers 40 Gbps of stacking bandwidth and that cuts management expense with single-switch configuration. IPv6 First Hop Security capability protects networks against address interception and malicious attacks.

Cisco Catalyst 3560 Series Switches
Cisco’s Catalyst 3560 Series is a line of non-modular switches that includes IEEE 802.3af and PoE functionality in Fast Ethernet and 10/100/1000 implementations. The Catalyst 3560 Series switch is a proven access-layer switch for midsize business LAN connectivity or local-office environments, combining both Gigabit and Power over Ethernet (PoE) configurations for high efficiency while streamlining the installation of key technology including VoIP, Wi-Fi, video surveillance, and remote video kiosks. IT managers can activate comprehensive intelligent services such as QoS, rate limiting, access control lists (ACLs), multicast administration, and broadband IP routing while maintaining the ease of conventional LAN switching.

The Catalyst 3560 Series switch is equipped with a powerful set of capabilities that permit network scalability and enhanced availability through IP routing as well as a full complement of STP improvements designed to increase throughput in a Layer 2 network. Enhancements to the standard STP Protocol, such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+), and Port Fast, as well as innovations like Flex Links interfaces, contribute to network uptime. Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+) supports Data Link Layer traffic sharing on backup connections to take advantage of the additional bandwidth associated with a redundant design.

Important technologies including Open Shortest Path First (OPSF), EIGRP, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), static routing, and Policy Based Routing increase system scale; Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) helps improve the efficiency of system resource use; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite protects data.

Catalyst 3750 Family Switches
For midsized businesses and corporate branch offices, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch facilitates deployment of converged applications and accommodates changing competitive needs by providing setup versatility, ability to manage converged network traffic, and automatic configuration of intelligent network services. Also, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switch is designed for high-volume Gigabit environments and incorporates a wide range of switches that meet the access, aggregation, and backbone-connectivity requirements of small or mid-size deployments.

Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series has either the IP Base or the IP Services image. The IP Base image capabilities include advanced quality of service (QoS), rate-limiting, ACLs, and simple static and Routing Information Protocol (RIP) routing support. The IP Services image provides a richer set of high-end functions, including advanced built-in IP unicast/multicast routing.

StackWise technology is an architecture optimized for 1000 Ethernet. This technology is intended to react to additions, deletions, and relocations while providing dependable operation. Cisco StackWise combines as many as nine individual switches into one functional unit, utilizing custom stack-interface cables and stacking software. The individual switches can be any combination of the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series and the 3750-E switches. The stack operates as a single switching appliance that is managed by a master switch, elected from one of the stack of switches. The control switch automatically creates and updates all the switching and user-selected routing tables. A running stack can accept new devices or delete existing members with no operational discontinuity.

Catalyst 2960 Series Switches and Catalyst 3560-CX Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 2960-CX is a fixed-configuration managed switch that is compact, fanless, low power, and allows flexible mounting options. The Catalyst 2960-CX has eight 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and two Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports and optionally provides Power over Ethernet (PoE). Cisco's Catalyst 3560-CX appliance is a fixed-port switch housed in a compact, quiet and energy-efficient unit that can be mounted almost anywhere outside a wiring closet. Models are offered with 8 or 12 1-GE ports or with 6 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and two multigigabit ports. Up to four uplinks are available, and PoE+ power is also available.

Cisco's Catalyst 2960-L family includes entry-level fixed-port managed switches targeted for small offices, retail venues, and other environments where space is at a premium. Catalyst 2900-L compact switches include eight to 48 GE ports and either 2 or 4 SFP uplink ports. Power over Ethernet support reduces clutter and fanless design for the 8- models eliminates noise. RJ-45 connectors handle 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T and 1000BASE-T SFP-based ports.

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and Catalyst 2960-XR switches improve on the 2690-S line of switches by delivering switching throughput as high as 216 Gbps and supporting Cisco's FlexStack-Plus stacking technology via a hot-swappable module that allows 8 switches in a FlexStack Plus stack capable of 80 Gbps of stacking throughput. Cisco Catalyst 2900 family switches also work with NetFlow-Lite for conserving forwarding data for analysis. Cisco's Catalyst 2960-XR Series switch features L3 dynamic routing, offering the simplicity of having one device for L2 and L3 routing.

Cisco Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 Switches
Cisco Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 switches are fixed-configuration, stackable access switches based on Cisco's IOS XE control software and featuring comprehensive wireless controller capability that lets you control wired and wireless infrastructure on a one device powered by a single operating system. Cisco offers models with either 24 or 48 1Gb Ethernet connections with Power over Ethernet plus (PoE+), four 1GE or four 10-Gigabit uplinks, and capacity for as many as nine switches per FlexStack stack. All models provide expandable QoS, stateful failover for maximum availability, support in software for IPv4/IPv6 routing, multicast routing, and advanced security features.

Since wireless traffic is visible at the Catalyst 3000 Series switch, administrators can spot and prioritize wireless data using Cisco's Flexible NetFlow (FNF) solution and advanced Quality of Service features for a better user environment and quicker problem mediation. Fast Ethernet switching can handle the high-throughput called for by the latest 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless specification on existing cabling infrastructure. (To find out about Progent's consulting and support services for Cisco's 802.11ac Aironet Wi-Fi technology, and Meraki cloud-managed Wi-Fi APs, refer to Planning and Deployment Support for Cisco Wireless Products.)

The Catalyst 3650 Series switch delivers stacking performance as high as 160 Gbps and supports as many as 25 Wi-Fi access points and 1000 Wi-Fi users per switch or stack. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 delivers stacking throughput as high as 480 Gbps and supports up to 50 wireless access points and 2000 wireless clients on each switch or stack. Cisco Catalyst 3850 SFP Fiber Switches incorporate 12 or 24 1G fiber connections at line rate, providing far reaching connectivity, advanced protection, and an identical wired/wireless user experience.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-E Series and Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Catalyst 4500-E and and Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series switches are intended for campus access and distribution deployments where space for infrastructure equipment is at a premium. Powered by Cisco's IOS XE OS software, both the 4500-E and Catalyst 4500-X families facilitate network virtualization by supporting Cisco's EVN and VSS solutions. Network virtualization makes it possible to divide a physical network into a number of virtual networks whose data and control planes are logically separate. This makes possible the economy, security and compliance, recoverability, and simplified management needed for Cloud environments or other scenarios where a common infrastructure must be shared by applications and services that need to operate in complete isolation from each other. EVN simplifies the process of deploying VNs and scales to 32 VNs for each switch. Easy Virtual Network utilizes features of Multi-virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) and provides new technologies including VNET Tags and an easy technique for duplicating replicating routes connecting virtual networks. VSS technology makes it possible to configure Catalyst 4500-E and Catalyst 4500-X Series switches to create zero-downtime virtual networks with optimized load balancing.

Catalyst 4500-E Series Switches
The Supervisor Engine for for the Catalyst 4500-E modular switch includes an integrated wireless controller that supports Cisco's Unified Access solution for wired and wireless convergence. this is the initial Cisco Catalyst supervisor engine to support wired as well as wireless services on one switch powered by IOS XE software. Features include Cisco's Flexible NetFlow technology for application visibility across both wired and wireless networks, TrustSec wired/wireless data security, consistent QoS for wired and Wi-Fi networks, and the expansion of Nonstop Forwarding with Stateful Switchover to include wireless data traffic for enterprise-class high availability.

Offered in chassis with from three to 10 plug-in slots, Catalyst 4500-E switches can handle as many as 384 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, 193 1GE non-blocking fiber ports, 96 10GE fiber connections, and eight 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplinks. The Catalyst 4500-E Supervisor Engine 8-E delivers as much as 928 Gbps of wired access per system and up to 20 Gbps of wireless termination capacity. 50 Wi-Fi APs and 2000 Wi-Fi clients can be handled per chassis, and up to 250 APs and 4000 wireless clients can be managed in a dual-switch installation without a standalone wireless controller.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 4500-X Series switches are fixed 10-Gigabit Ethernet aggregation switches that can deliver up to 800 Gbps of backplane switching performance per chassis. The Catalyst 4500-X switch supports as many as 32 10GE connections on the baseboard and eight more 10GE ports on the expansion module for a total of 40 non-blocking 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports. Eight 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplinks are available via a separate module. In addition to providing non-stop performance and simple management, Cisco's VSS technology on Catalyst 4500-X switches offers increased system performance of up to 1.6 Tbps by activating all possible bandwidth between VSS-linked Catalyst 4500-X Series switches. Other features include Cisco's FNF solution for capacity planning, Cisco TrustSec protection, and fast, hardware-based IPv6 forwarding.

Catalyst 6500 Series and Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series switches are campus core platforms that incorporate the field-proven technology of the Catalyst 6500 family of switches, which first appeared over a dozen years ago and have been continually improved ever since. Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Catalyst 6800 switches provide the same general features and operational consistency, and the modular Catalyst 6807-XL supports the Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 2T and the associated family of compatible line cards and service modules. This mutual compatibility and commitment to ongoing enhancement protects your IT expenditures and permits you to upgrade your network backbone with little downtime or IT staff retraining.

Shared attributes of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Catalyst 6800 Series modular switches that have the Supervisor Engine 2T include Cisco's Identity Services Engine for simple, centralized administration to ensure unvarying policy throughout a distributed environment, Virtual Switching System capability for 99.999% availability via multi-level failover, and the Cisco Campus Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) to facilitate roaming and device mobility and to streamline virtualization and transition to IPv6. Other virtualization tools to partition specific user groups and support the unique security and QoS policy needs of each group include Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN, full Multiprotocol Label Switching, Easy Virtual Network, VPN Routing and Forwarding-aware applications for Network Address Translation (NAT) NetFlow, GRE for v4/v6, and L2 geographic extensions with virtual private LAN services (VPLS). For unified wired/wireless environments, the WiSM2 controller Catalyst 6500 Series and Catalyst 6800 modular switches includes support for 1000 wireless access points and 15,000 wireless users.

Catalyst 6500-E Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 6500-E family of modular switches are intended for distribution and enterprise backbone environments that require world-class uptime and high concentrations of 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 1 GE fiber, or 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Models have three to 13 expansion slots and work with a wide range of interfaces. Integrated service modules enable wireless management, traffic monitoring, and security and compliance. Just E-Series versions of Cisco's extensive line of Catalyst 6500 switches work with Cisco's Supervisor Engine 2T.

The Catalyst 6503-E has a 4 rack unit (4RU) chassis, holds 3 slots, and delivers up to 180 Gbps of switching capacity per slot. The Cisco Catalyst 6503-E can support up to 97 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, up to 99 1GE fiber ports, up to 34 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 8 40-Gigabit Ethernet access ports.

The high-end Cisco Catalyst 6513-E switch has a 19RU, 13-slot form factor and offers up to 180 Gbps of capacity on each slot, with a system bandwidth of up to 4 Tbps. A VSS configuration can handle up to 8 Tbps of bandwidth. The Cisco Catalyst 6513-E switch offers a maximum of 529 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections, up to 534 Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports, 180 10-Gigabit Ethernet connections, and up to 44 40GE access ports.

Cisco Catalyst 6800 Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 6800 Series switches are campus backbone platforms intended to deliver optimal 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet services. The Catalyst 6880-X switch is a fixed, small form factor platform for high-density Ethernet intended for small or medium-size campus backbones. The Catalyst 6880-X switch delivers up to 2 Tbps switching throughput and features four slots for plug-in port cards. The top port concentration per chassis is 80 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports or 10GE connections or as many as 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet connections. Configured with Cisco's Virtual Switching System, these switches can provide 4 Tbps switching capacity and handle up to 158 10/100/1000 Ethernet access ports or 10GE access ports or up to 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports.

The modular Catalyst 6807-XL switch has a 10-rack-unit chassis that has 7 slots and supports existing Supervisor Engine 2T cards and service modules. (Two of the slots are for the Supervisor Engine and five are for modules.) The Catalyst 6807-XL switch can deliver up to 880 Gbps of switching throughput per slot and 11.4 Tbps of full-duplex switching throughput while handling up to 240 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports or Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports, up to 80 10-Gigabit Ethernet access ports or 20 40GE connections. an 6807-XL system configured with VSS is capable of supporting 22.8 Tbps of switching performance, 480 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 1GE fiber ports, 160 10GE access ports or 40 40GE access ports.

How Progent Can Help You with Cisco Catalyst Series Switches
Progent can provide the remote or on-premises support services of Cisco CCIE-certified network consultants who have broad experience delivering Catalyst switch technology support for small and midsize businesses, branch offices, enterprise campuses, data centers, Cloud environments, and service providers. Progent's skills include Catalyst and Nexus lines of smart switches and Cisco's IOS, IOS-XR and NX-OS operating systems. Consulting and support services offered by Progent for Catalyst switches include pilot testing, system analysis, network architecture design, upgrades and project management, network virtualization, wired and wireless unification, network management, performance optimization, problem mitigation, disaster recovery and business continuity preparedness, and data security assessment and verification.

Progent has deep expertise with industry standards and with Cisco-owned protocols and technologies related to switching and routing including Border Gateway Protocol, MPLS traffic engineering, PIM, VPNs, ISIS, VLANs, Cisco FabricPath, Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, OSPF, Virtual Switching System (VSS), and Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP). Progent's network consultants also offer familiarity with key technologies including TCP/IP, IPv4, IPv6, EIGRP, Routing Information Protocol (RIP), and IGMP. Progent's CISSP-ISSAP certified network security consultants can assist you to develop a comprehensive security plan and deploy Cisco Catalyst switches so that they provide optimal support for your network security posture.

In case you need the highest available density or sub-microsecond latency switches for an enterprise-class data center, Progent can help you to analyze, plan, and carry out a transition to Cisco's Nexus family of switches. To learn about Progent's consulting and support services for Cisco's Nexus Series switches, see Cisco Nexus Switch configuration and support offered by Progent. Progent can also assist you to integrate Catalyst core switches with Meraki aggregation switches. (See Cisco Meraki switch integration consultants.)

For additional information concerning Progent's professional help for Cisco products, select a topic:

• Overview of Progent's Cisco Network Support
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